Now that's a Canada Day strut!

Billion dollar donation equals sustainable transport solution?

By Nick Anning

There’s a billion dollar donation sitting idle in the Gatineau Hills, says one Chelsea commuter with a vision.

Under one vision it could represent the future of sustainable transportation for the region, at a time when many are reeling from escalating gas prices and looking for alternatives to the car.

It’s over 100 years old, but the railway line exists, and with the future of the steam train at a crossroads, a community consultation process has been launched to help maximize the railway corridor potential.

Chelsea’s Joseph Potvin has established visionontrack.org, a volunteer public forum. Its aim, says Potvin, is to engage “serious consideration of the use of the railway corridor for inter-modal transportation.”

Ideas already on the table include a Wakefield-Ottawa commuter train, a cable car connection from Mont Cascades to Cascades in Chelsea and combined rails and trails use for pedestrians and cyclists.

All this while still incorporating the award-winning steam train tourist attraction.
The role of visionontrack, Potvin said, is “not to complain, but to discuss what the community could be doing and mobilize support for these ideas.”

He is, however, concerned about the future of the railway corridor under current circumstances – the train sidelined and up for sale; the tracks to be ripped up for major repair work following a significant landslide in Chelsea.

At Chelsea’s 10-year financial planning meeting June 19 Potvin asked, “Is there an option (in the budget) for public transit, including the re-establishment of the commuter train?”

Chelsea Mayor Jean Perras said a 2010 review would “look at transportation from a global MRC (des Collines) point of view,” and added that “sustainable transport will be a key element.”

But Potvin is skeptical. “A billion dollar donation exists. And we just want to trash it?”

A regular passenger service first ran through the Gatineau Hills in 1892, and was last seen on January 27, 1963. Potvin is keen for its imminent return.

One option cited is equipment from a UK company, Parry People Movers Ltd. (PPM). They supply lightweight rail vehicles for use on regional railways. PPM vehicles incorporate flywheel energy storage, allowing railcars to run on gas, diesel or hydrogen - all with very high energy efficiency and very low emissions of pollutants and noise.

Potvin proposes running the commuter train from the old Hamilton Motors building, currently up for sale in Wakefield, to Bayview station in Ottawa.

Harry Gow, co-president of the Friends of the Steam Train, said the PPM is one of many possible solutions for a commuter line. He said an Ottawa mayors committee on transport has considered the long-term option of extending a light rail service to Wakefield, most likely incorporating O-train technology.

Gow estimated it would cost $5-8 million for the equipment to run a light rail service, and noted that a rush hour timetable would not conflict with the steam train schedule.

Safety-wise, Potvin views the relative risk of the train as being less than that caused by cars on Hwy 105. He thought the speed of a light rail car would be around 50 km/per hour.

Perras said the line crosses around 35 roads in Chelsea and a change in structure would be required. He also drew attention to the around 1,000 homes near the tracks.

Visionontrack is open to comments and suggestions, on topics ranging from the idea to connect both sides of the river via a cable car (a novel commute), to where future stations could be located.

To view ideas and add suggestions go to http://visionontrack.org.

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Fling ditches date, and his car

Some advice for anyone planning to steal a car this summer: don’t get drunk, crash it in the ditch and get caught by the RCMP.

According to MRC des Collines police, a 43-year-old woman from Kemptville, Ontario was arrested June 26 for possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of a vehicle while impaired.

MRC des Collines police received a call on the morning of June 26 from a cottager on Wolf Lake. The man reported his 1996 Saturn was stolen during the night by a “homeless woman” he had picked up and brought to his cabin.

Later that morning, police received a call from the RCMP who routinely patrol Meech Lake Road. “Long story short: it was the woman,” in the stolen car who had crashed into the ditch said Martin Fournel, communications officer for the MRC des Collines police. She was not hurt and no other vehicles were involved in the accident.

The woman was brought into the police station and found to be over the legal blood-alcohol limit. She is to appear in court Sept. 17, 2008. She has a previous conviction for impaired driving, said police.

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Spa oils up for more massages

By Cynthia Vukets

Le Nordik is using so many area massage therapists, the spa has to start training its own.

Every day, 60 registered massage therapists give about 140 massages to the Nordic style spa’s blissed-out clients.

The new massage school, a franchise of Quebec’s Centre Orchidée, will be the only school accredited by the Fédération québecoise des Massothérapeutes in the Outaouais. Construction began June 17 on the building that will house the school and a conference centre.

“The main advantage is that students will have access to the spa while learning,” says owner Martin Paquette. Not only will trainees be able to relax in the steam room between classes, they will be able to practice with the spa’s registered therapists.

“It will also help us with our recruiting,” says operations director Michel Bourgeois.

As he speaks, a dump truck trundles up the gravel drive to the work site. Even with tranquil music playing inside, the noise of the trucks and digger is distracting. “We are never closed!” says Bourgeois. The spa’s regular hours are from 10:00 a.m. until midnight, 7 days a week.

The spa closed its doors exceptionally on June 25 and 26 from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. for some essential construction. The rest of the work will go on at night, while the spa is closed.

A loyal fan base is obvious, as several couples and groups walk up to the locked door during the afternoon closure and peer inside before turning tail and heading disconsolately back down the path.

Bourgeois says Le Nordik, which only opened two years ago, decided to build the conference centre because corporate demand for interesting conference venues is high. “People are looking for different activities,” he says. Although he acknowledges, “it’s not everybody that’s comfortable being in a bathing suit with their colleagues.” But showing a little skin is probably preferable to ripping it off on one of those high-intensity corporate-retreat rope courses.

The construction project, which will cost around $1 million, will be finished around January 2009.

“That thing is booked solid until Christmas!” says Bourgeois of the spa’s current corporate lodge. It is more like a ski chalet, he says, and is just too small to respond to demand. The new building will accommodate meetings and receptions for around 100 people.

The new building will be as “green” as possible, says Paquette. It will have geothermal heating and systems for water and energy recuperation.

“Water is a big element,” says Bourgeois. “So we try to do a lot of water conservation.”

The water used in the outdoor spa is from a natural spring on Le Nordik’s site. The water is treated with a fine filter and reused, says Paquette. Rainwater is collected for use in ornamental springs and fountains; grey water from showers is reused in the spa’s toilets.

Meanwhile, plans for a green hotel are still in the works.

“We will have accommodation eventually, for sure,” says Paquette. But, he says any hotel project will depend on Chelsea’s decision regarding the planned sewer system for the centre village. The soonest he could begin construction would be three years from now.

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